Monster
by Rapscallion7780
Summary: The Walking Dead: Season 3C. Taking place during the events of Season 3C's first story "To Live Again". Michonne hunts the Governor, but she finds more than she bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

**THE WALKING DEAD:**

 **"MONSTER"**

 **CHAPTER 1**

Michonne walked along the center of the long, black road that led to Woodbury, her cold eyes looking occasionally at the woods on either side for any threat human, animal…or dead. The hood of her cape covered her dreadlocks and the cape itself fluttered partially in the breeze against the katana slung over her back. She was alone, but she preferred it that way; her quarry was only one man, and she didn't need the others back at the prison to kill him…the Governor.

•••

Yesterday, Rick's group had succeeded in scaring the Governor's new, inexperienced army out of the prison. Michonne joined Rick and Daryl on a mission to sneak inside Woodbury and kill their mutual enemy, the Governor, and rescue their mutual friend, Andrea. Daryl led the way on his chopper motorcycle, while Michonne and Rick followed in the group's Dodge Ram 1500.

Alongside this very road they found the remnants of the Governor's caravan: a U.S. Army transport truck, a Jeep Wrangler YJ, and a Ford Excursion. Lying beside the vehicles and scattered across the field were the corpses of the Governor's army, now being consumed by Walkers. Michonne and her two companions stopped to kill the Walkers, and figure out what happened. That's when they discovered one woman—Karen—hiding inside the truck's cab.

After Karen calmed down, she said the Governor had forced the caravan to pull over, and he ordered his army to go back and renew the attack. Everyone but Allen refused and argued they should return to Woodbury, and as quickly as the argument began, the Governor suddenly opened fire on them with his assault rifle. The ones who weren't killed in the first spray of gunfire ran into the field in a desperate attempt to reach the safety of the forest, but the Governor gunned them down too.

The man behind Karen was shot in the back and he fell dead on top of her, and Karen laid perfectly still while Governor walked along the field, firing his pistol, and preventing the people he had just slaughtered from turning. Karen waited still and quietly until she heard a truck drive away, and she waited a while longer until she heard the underbrush swaying up ahead, followed by low growls. Karen looked up, and saw Walkers shuffling out of the woods. She was on her feet and running towards the truck in an instant, and once she climbed inside its cab, she shut the door, locked it, and hid from sight. A few minutes after that she heard a motorcycle and a truck come to a stop, followed by the the walker's growls coming to sudden stop one-by-one. Karen had just been rescued by the very people the Governor said were trying to kill her and everyone else in Woodbury. Rick decided to continue on to Woodbury, and they brought Karen with them in case they needed a witness to convince the people behind those walls to throw down their weapons and open the gates.

The group reached Woodbury after nightfall, so they left their vehicles and began sneaking towards the gate when a shot the wall rang out and just missed Rick. Both sides exchanged gunfire until Karen shouted Tyreese's name.

"Karen?! Karen are you okay?!" Tyreese asked.

"I'm fine!" Karen answered as she broke free from Rick and stood out in the open, her hands above her head.

"Where's the Governor?"

"He fired on everyone! He killed them all!" Karen answered.

A moment later Tyreese asked "Why are you with them?"

"They…saved me!" Karen shouted as she recalled how close she came to dying.

A long pause followed, as both sides were unsure of what they should do.

"We're coming out!" Rick shouted as he put his weapons on the ground. "We're coming out."

The former sherriff's deputy stepped out into the open and he and Karen walked towards the gate, with their hands above their heads. Michonne and Daryl followed reluctantly, but they kept their weapons with them. The gate opened and Tyreese and Sasha stepped out, their weapons lowered.

"What are you doing here?" Tyreese asked, his voice low, like he was in shock about the news of the Governor's slaughter.

"We were coming to finish this, until we saw what the Governor did," Rick answered.

"He…he killed them?" Tyreese asked, his eyes hoping that the news was a lie.

"Yeah," Rick nodded sadly. Then he decided to change the subject. "Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall, going over the prison. She might be here."

•••

Andrea was indeed there.

They found her inside the warehouse where the Governor had kept Glenn and Maggie prisoner. There was a puddle of blood underneath an iron door. Rick drew his Colt Python revolver, while Daryl covered him with an M4A1 rifle. Rick opened the door, and inside the room was barber's chair in the center of the room, and the corpse of the Governor's aide Milton, lying in front of it. But Michonne only caught a glimpse of Milton, because her gaze caught an arm lying beside the doorframe. Michonne ran inside the room, dropped her katana, and saw Andrea curled up against the wall. "Andrea!" Michonne gasped as she sat down and pulled her friend gently into her arms.

"I tried to stop him." Andrea said weakly as her eyes fluttered open.

Rick and Daryl walked into the room and lowered their weapons when they saw Andrea.

"You're burning up," Michonne whispered to Andrea, and not understanding how that was possible.

Andrea lowered her head and tried to pull back her vest and shirt; Michonne and Rick helped her, and they saw a bloody bite wound on her left shoulder.

Michonne shut her eyes in grief and held onto Andrea tighter. Rick looked away. Daryl gritted his teeth.

"Judith…Carl…the rest of them?" Andrea asked Rick.

" **Us** ," Rick insisted as he looked at Andrea again and touched her, "the rest of **us.** "

Andrea smiled, appreciating that Rick was welcoming her back into the group. "Are they alive?"

Rick looked up at Daryl and looked down at the floor. He didn't know how much longer he could speak to this dying woman without bursting into tears. "Yeah, they're alive," he answered finally.

Andrea smiled again and she seemed to go limp in Michonne's arms, as if she had held out to learn the group's fate, and now that she knew they were all right, she was prepared to die. She looked up at Michonne and smiled. "It's good that you found them."

Michonne nodded as she began to cry. She was too tired of being strong and too tired of keeping other people at a distance.

Next, Andrea looked up at Daryl. "No one can make it alone now," she warned him.

Daryl shifted his posture uncomfortably as if he didn't expect Andrea to say anything to him. "Never could," he agreed.

Andrea faced Rick, and her tired expression was replaced briefly by a thoughtful one. "I just didn't want anyone to die," she explained.

Rick said nothing, but he understood Andrea's intentions. He tried negotiating with the Governor to avoid a war. He had briefly agreed to the terms of handing Michonne over as a peace offering to save his children and his group.

"I can do it myself," Andrea said as she sat up straighter.

"No," Michonne begged.

"I have to…while I still can."

Michonne looked at her friend for a moment and nodded in defeat.

"Please," Andrea said. Rick raised his head when he realized the request was directed at him.

"I know how the safety works," Andrea smiled.

Rick instantly thought back to the day he met Andrea in that department store in Atlanta a year ago; her threatening to kill him because he inadvertently brought a herd down on her group, but what she didn't know was that she left the pistol's safety on. After Andrea had calmed down and lowered the weapon, Rick showed her how the safety works: red dot means the gun is ready to fire. He never thought that brief lesson would lead to this moment. Rick drew his Colt Python revolver and placed it in Andrea's hand.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Michonne insisted. She had turned her back on Andrea at the gates when her friend refused to leave Woodbury; she wouldn't make that mistake again.

Andrea looked sadly at Michonne, Rick, and Daryl. She thought about the chances she had to flee Woodbury, or kill the Governor. But she stayed up until the last moment to stop a foolish war between two groups of survivors in a world filled with dead cannibals. "I tried…" she said wistfully.

"Yeah," Rick whispered, "You did. You did."

Rick stood up and he and Daryl stepped out of the room and closed the iron door behind them. Michonne moved in front of Andrea and held her left hand while supporting the back of her neck. They looked at each other sadly. A minute later Andrea nodded, Michonne nodded too, and she shut her eyes and turned away. Andrea pressed the revolver's barrel underneath her jaw and pulled the trigger.

BLAM!

•••

This morning, Daryl suggested to Michonne that she wait a day so he could get Merle's corpse, bring him back to the prison, give him a proper burial, and then they could hunt the Governor together. Michonne understood Daryl's desire for revenge, and she knew he was the superior tracker, but she knew this hunt couldn't wait. The Governor would run and hide and bide his time, and when he was ready, he'd attack the prison again.

Michonne heard a flock of crows cawing ahead of her and a minute later she saw the birds pecking at the corpses lying alongside the Governor's parked caravan or lying in the field. The crows saw Michonne approaching, and sensing she wasn't one of the rotting humans, spread their wings and flew away. Michonne reached over her shoulder, and held the grip of her katana as she walked alongside the transport truck and glared up at the driver's side door.

 _It might be a good idea to take the truck,_ Michonne thought. _It would save me some time, and if that son of a bitch left Woodbury, I can catch up with him a lot faster._

Michonne stepped on the foot ramp, opened the door, and peered inside the cab. _The keys aren't in the ignition; no wonder Karen didn't just drive away. Whoever was driving this rig_

 _likely took the keys with them after putting it in park and killing the engine. So which one was the driver?_

Michonne stepped down from the cab, walked past the transport truck and looked down at the fresh corpses and the dead walkers mixed together. She noticed one of the fresh ones—a black man—lying face down and facing the truck as if he had turned around to walk back to it. _He was the driver,_ Michonne thought, _the first one out of the truck and the first one to tell the Governor to go to hell._ Michonne knelt down, turned the man over, dug into his vest pocket, and a moment later she pulled out the truck's keys.

Michonne stood up and looked at the Jeep Wrangler YJ parked in front of the transport truck. The driver was lying dead on the road beside it, and his passenger was sitting dead in the passenger seat. Michonne noticed the driver had the jeep's keys clutched in his right hand. _Which one should I take? The truck is more powerful and it's got a cab to keep the walkers out. The jeep is more maneuverable and it's faster._ Michonne looked at both vehicles, and she dropped the truck's keys and walked towards the jeep; she pried the keys out of the driver's hand, walked around to the passenger side, lifted the corpse out of the passenger seat and carefully laid it down on the ground.

•••

Michonne drove the Wrangler YJ at full speed down the road to Woodbury. Her katana was leaning against the passenger seat, and her Glock 19 pistol was sticking out of the cup holder of the jeep's console. There were a few walkers on the road, and they stopped shuffling and watched as she sped past them.

 _If they can still think, they're probably thinking they'll see me in Woodbury,_ Michonne thought. The joke almost made her crack a smile.

Michonne's eyes went wide and she slammed her foot down on the brake.

SCREEECH!

The Jeep slid as it left a trail of black tire treads along the road until it came to a complete stop. Michonne put the jeep in park, and stood up and looked straight ahead in horror.

There were columns of black smoke rising on the horizon.

Michonne sat down, put the jeep in drive, and continued to speed down the road. Within minutes, Woodbury was in sight: the town was afire but what worried Michonne most was that the gate—which Rick had closed before they had left last night—had been smashed into splinters. The walkers would soon overrun the town, if they weren't inside already. Michonne would have to find the Governor and kill him quickly.

Michonne drove the jeep through the shattered gate and swung the steering wheel to the right; she stepped on the brake and put the jeep in park. The heat from the fires was intense and Michonne pulled down the hood of her cape to let the cold breeze touch her neck. She turned towards the burning town and saw the flames leaping across Main St. She then looked to see if the Governor was standing on the street, but what she saw were a dozen walkers, staring at the burning buildings. One of the walkers looked over its shoulder, and growled at Michonne; the other walkers turned around and growled at her too.

Michonne took the keys out of the ignition and she shoved them into her pants pocket. Next she grabbed the Glock 19 pistol and stood up; as she stuck the pistol against the small of her back, she turned around to watch the walkers again: shuffling towards her and growling from hunger. Michonne grabbed her katana, leapt out of the jeep, slung the scabbard over her back, and drew the blade in one swift motion. The walkers growled louder now, and continued to shuffle forward. Michonne gripped the katanna's handle with both hands, and waited for the first walker to step within striking distance; her hunt for the Governor would have to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

The closest of the dozen walkers staggering towards Michonne was a male wearing a tattered shirt, pants, a loose tie, and its shoes were missing; its yellow eyes glowed with anger and it reached out its bloodstained hands to grasp her. Michonne swung her katana and there was a flash as the sharp blade caught a glimpse of the sun on this cloudy day.

SHUKK!

The walker froze as the katana cleaved a curved path through its skull from the center of its scalp to the bottom of its right eye socket. The right half of its skull fell onto the street, with a slice of brain matter sandwiched inside it, while the walker fell onto its left side, dead.

Michonne stepped over the walker's dead corpse and waited for the eleven still staggering forward. She held her katana with both hands and her hooded cape billowed behind her.

Two walkers, side by side, growled and grasped at Michonne.

Michonne swung her katana again.

SVASSH!

The sharp blade severed the two walkers' legs below their knees, and they fell onto their backs and flailed their limbs like two wind-up toy robots. Michonne stood over the two walkers, raised her left foot, and brought it down on one's forehead, crushing it; she then twirled the katana in her hand, pointed the blade at the walker snapping at her and drove it through its forehead, killing it. Michonne pulled the blade out of the dead walker's head and continued moving forward, the sole of her left boot trailing blood and chunks of brain matter.

Three down, nine to go.

The next walker was an elderly male and it had an eyeglass lanyard around its neck and a pair of frames with shattered lenses dangled on the end of it. The walker spread its arms out like it was about to give its grandchild a hug.

Michonne raised her katana and slashed twice at the elderly walker.

SVASSH! SVASSH!

Michonne cut off the elderly walker's hands and she delivered a spinning back kick to its stomach that sent it stumbling backwards until it fell down onto the ground. Michonne stood her ground and watched the remaining walkers staggering towards her. One walker staggered in a low crouch on Michonne's left flank, but she saw its move and thrust her katana at its head.

SHLUKK!

The blade when through the walker's left eye, it froze, and when Michonne withdrew the blade, the walker fell to the ground, dead.

Michonne moved forward again. She came alongside the elderly walker she had kicked to the ground earlier and stopped, raised her right foot, and brought it down on its forehead like she had done to one of the walkers she had killed moments before.

Five down, seven to go.

Michonne took a few more steps until she stood in the center of the island that divided Woodbury's main street. She held her bloody sword at the ready and watched the seven remaining walkers staggering towards her in a crescent shaped line.

A male walker stepped onto the island, its arms stretched out to grasp Michonne; she raised the katana above her head and slashed at the walker's right arm.

WHUKK!

The sword cut off the walker's right arm by the shoulder; the limb fell onto the manicured grass while the walker staggered back a few steps. Michonne ran to the walker's now limbless side, reached around its back and grabbed its waist belt, spun it around, and shoved it forward. The walker stumbled into two of its comrades that had just stepped onto the island and the three of them fell onto Main Street like a trio of drunks.

Michonne barely had time to stand up straight when the closest walker on her right growled hungrily and staggered at her. Michonne saw the walker coming out of the corner of her eye, and swung her katana hurriedly.

SHUKK!

The sharp blade sliced through the walker's skull from its right temple to its left. The walker staggered past Michonne and fell onto the island dead, and when it fell onto the island, the top of its skull fell off and landed on its scalp; Michonne looked down, saw the slice of brain matter that fit snugly inside the top of the skull, and made certain she didn't step onto it.

Six down, six to go.

Michonne backed away from the three walkers staggering towards her while the three she had knocked down earlier were rising to their feet. She glanced behind her as she stepped off the island and onto Main Street and looked again at the approaching walkers. Michonne stood still and waited for the nearest walker to stagger close enough for her to kill it with her bloody sword.

The closest walker was a male and wore a leather biker's jacket. It took another step towards Michonne and she swung her katana at its left leg.

SVASSH!

The katana cut off the biker's left leg below the knee and the walker twisted and started to fall onto its left side, so Michonne stepped to her own left and the biker walker fell onto Main Street. Michonne spun the katana in her hand, pointed the blade at the biker walker's skull, and drove it through its right temple, killing it.

Michonne pulled the blade out of the dead biker walker's skull and looked up just in time to see a female walker in a tattered EMT uniform staggering towards her. Michonne raised the katana over her head, and brought it down onto the EMT walker's scalp.

WHUKK!

The blade split open the female EMT walker's head down the center of its head to its eyebrows. The EMT walker's arms dropped to its sides and when Michonne pulled the blade free and moved to her left again, it fell dead beside the dead biker walker.

Eight down, four to go.

Michonne moved slowly up Main Street as the four remaining walkers staggered after her. The first walker to step off the island was male, and like the last walker Michonne had killed, it also wore a tattered EMT uniform.

"So she was your friend?" Michonne asked as she gestured with her bloody sword at the dead female EMT walker.

The male EMT walker growled in reply.

"Yeah, I know how you're feeling."

Michonne swung her katana at the male EMT walker.

SHUKK!

The blade cut through the male EMT walker's skull from its left temple to its right, and the walker fell onto its back dead while the top of its skull landed beside it and dark blood spread out slowly underneath it.

Nine down, three to go.

The last three walkers staggered across the island and stepped onto Main Street while Michonne backed away slowly. One walker had been a farmer and wore blood-stained overalls and a frayed John Deere ball cap. The second walker was dressed like a secretary in a bloodstained blouse and shirt, torn pantyhose and its shoes were missing; its blonde hair was matted with dirt and blood. The third walker was the male whose right arm Michonne had cut off.

Michonne stabbed at the farmer walker with her katana.

SHLUKK!

The tip of the sharp blade went through the bridge of the farmer walker's nose, it froze in place, and when Michonne pulled out the blade, it fell onto its back, dead.

The secretary walker growled angrily as it staggered forward quickly and grabbed Michonne by the shoulders. Michonne's eyes widened in shock as the secretary walker bared its sharp teeth and lunged at her throat, but she brought the katana up in time to block it. The secretary walker bit down on the sword and dark blood dribbled out of the corners of its mouth. Michonne kicked the secretary walker in the stomach, which sent it stumbling backwards, where it brushed past the male walker and it finally fell on its back.

The male walker growled as it staggered towards Michonne; it opened and closed its left fist as if it knew she had cut off its right arm.

SHUKK!

The blade went through the male walker's mouth and exited the top of its scalp. The male walker froze in place and Michonne leaned forward, grabbed hold of its shoulder, and used it as leverage to pull her sword free, and when she let go of the male walker, it fell to its right side, dead.

Eleven down, one to go.

Michonne looked at the secretary walker, which was sitting up slowly and growling as dark blood continued to stream slowly out of the corners of its mouth and down its neck. Michonne approached the secretary walker, twirled her katana so the blade was pointed at its scalp, and drove the blade down.

SHLUKK!

Michonne pulled the blade out of the dead secretary walker's skull, stepped back, and surveyed the carnage she had wrought. Michonne shook her katana, and blood and bits of brain matter flew onto Main Street.

•••

Michonne coughed; a moment later she brought her hand to her mouth and coughed again. She felt intense heat and she looked to her right and she looked to her left and saw the black clouds were rising higher in the sky and the hot flames were spreading faster across Woodbury. Michonne remembered suddenly who she was hunting and she spun around to look up Main Street, but the Governor was nowhere in sight.

Michonne realized she was out in the open. If the Governor were here, he likely expected the walkers would swarm her, but now he could watching from a sniper's nest and could easily pick her off with a rifle shot. Michonne ran to the sidewalk and used the dark smoke billowing out the shattered windows of the shops and apartments as cover as she ran up the street towards the most logical place the Governor might be holed up….his apartment.

Michonne reached the Governor's apartment building and stopped in front of its closed door. She took a step back, looked up at the roof, and saw the flames rising into the sky. _"I've got five minutes to find and kill him,"_ she thought.

Michonne reached for the doorknob, but stopped. She looked at the katana in her right hand and considered the likelihood of the Governor being armed; the katana, unfortunately, wasn't the best weapon for this confrontation. Michonne sheathed her sword in its scabbard and drew the Glock 19 pistol tucked alongside the small of her back. Michonne grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pushed the door open to reveal a vestibule and a few yards ahead a staircase. Michnne pointed her pistol into the building, and seeing no threat, stepped inside cautiously.

The fire alarm rang suddenly. Michonne went into a low crouch, and held her breath as she expected a bomb to explode. _It's the fire alarm. Just the fire alarm,_ she reassured herself.

A moment later Michonne crept forward and stepped on the first step cautiously; the wood creaked from the pressure of her weight, but she hoped the ringing from the alarm would cover it up. Michonne aimed her pistol up the staircase, placed her other foot on the step and she began climbed the staircase one step at a time. Within moments she stepped onto the second floor, but once again she needed to crouch because the black smoke was drifting across the ceiling, so she took the edge of her hooded cape and used it to cover her nose and mouth as she moved towards the Governor's apartment. When she got there she took a deep breath through the wool fabric of her cape, kicked the door in, and aimed her pistol. Black smoke hung over the ceiling, and flames were eating the walls and furniture.

 _I don't have much time,_ Michonne thought as she walked into the burning apartment and aimed her pistol at the windows, the living room, the desk, the bed, the dinner table, and the kitchen. But the Governor wasn't there.

Michonne doubled over with a coughing fit. Her lungs felt like they were being crushed and her eyes were watery and her vision blurry. _I've…got to…get out of here,_ she told herself. Michonne turned towards the door, but she stopped suddenly and her eyes widened. _The trophy room!_

Michonne spun around and through the dark smoke saw the wooden door on the other side of the room. She ran towards it in spite of another coughing fit. _He has to be in here. He's lost everything; the war, the town and its people. He's probably sitting in that leather chair, staring at those severed heads, and waiting for me to break in and kill him._

Michonne kicked the trophy room's door open and aimed her pistol. The storage shelves, and the fish tanks with walker heads were gone…and the Governor wasn't there. Michonne slumped against the doorframe and sank to her knees. Another coughing fit overtook her and she pressed the edge of her hooded cape against her mouth again. _He's…gone,_ she told herself.

Michonne looked up and saw the open closet where the Governor had kept that child walker. _Who was she?_ Michonne wondered to herself. Then she remembered the day she first snuck in this apartment to retrieve her katana, and she skimmed through the book: there was a list of names, people who were members of the Governor's group and who had died. But the last name was underlined several times: Penny. _She was his daughter!_ Michonne realized, and her watery eyes widened, and in spite of the black smoke, she dropped her cape away from her nose and mouth.

•••

Michonne remembered the night she snuck Rick, Daryl, and that prisoner Oscar into Woodbury on a rescue mission for Glenn and Maggie; she had left the group, snuck inside the Governor's apartment and she sat in the dark, her katana across her lap, waiting for him. He had sent out Merle and some of his flunkies to follow and kill her hours earlier, but she killed them all except for Merle, and he wound up kidnapping the young couple, but they weren't Michonne's concern; her concern was getting revenge on the man who ran this town.

Michonne heard knocking coming from the next room, and kicked the door open and was shocked by the site of the fish tanks filled with walker heads, but she was horrified by the discovery of the source of those knocks: a little girl chained inside the closet, wearing a straitjacket and a sack over her head.

Michonne put her katana on the floor and knelt down. "Oh my God," she whispered in shock, "it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

The captive girl staggered forward slowly. "Come on. Come on," Michonne whispered encouragingly.

The captive girl stopped in front of Michonne, she unhooked the chain that anchored the girl to the closet and removed the sack from her head…and was met with a cherubic face with yellow eyes and snapping teeth.

Michonne leapt back; then she kept the walker girl back with one hand, grabbed her katana with the other, and prepared to kill it.

"Nooo!" a voice screamed.

Michonne faced the doorway and saw the Governor pointing a pistol at her. She pushed the walker girl in front of her, and the Governor began to tremble. "Don't hurt her," he pleaded.

Michonne looked from the Governor to the girl and at the Governor again. She couldn't figure out what was going on here, and she also couldn't be distracted by it; the Governor would kill her the moment she let her guard down.

The Governor holstered his pistol and unbuckled his gunbelt. "It's me you want, huh?" he asked. He then put his gunbelt down and stepped inside the room. "There's no need for her to suffer," he said timidly.

"She doesn't have needs," Michonne answered. There was no hate in her voice, just pity.

The Governor continued to walk slowly into the room, his hands up, showing he was unarmed. "Don't hurt my little girl," he pleaded.

Michonne was speechless. What had she stumbled on? Who was this girl? What kind of man was the Governor?

The Governor took a few more steps and stopped. "Please don't…" he whispered, his eyes pleading for Michonne to lower her sword.

Michonne almost listened to the Governor, but she remembered he had sent his men to kill her, and her anger took control and she stabbed her katana through the back of the walker girl's head and it exited through her mouth.

"Nooo!" the Governor screamed in horror.

Michonne had barely pulled the sword out of the little corpse when the Governor attacked her. Michonne dropped her sword and she and the Governor fought around the room. At one point the Governor grabbed Michonne and threw her towards the fish tanks, and she caught a blur of light, water, and teeth.

CRASH!

The top of Michonne's head shattered one of the fish tanks and water spilled onto the floor. The walker heads inside the tank snapped at her. The Governor had Michonne by her neck and was trying to shove her towards the snapping heads. Michonne grabbed onto two fish tanks, put her foot on the storage shelves, and shoved backwards with all her strength. A moment later, she broke free and was falling backwards, and the two fish tanks she was holding onto were falling with her.

CRASH!

The fish tanks shattered; shards of glass, water, and the walkers' heads spilled onto the floor. The Governor put Michonne in a choke hold, but she broke free with an elbow to his face. She started crawling towards her katana, by the Governor put her in the choke hold again. He squeezed tightly and Michonne reached out for her weapon, but it was out of reach. She was starting to lose consciousness, so she reached for the closet weapon: the broken glass pane from one of the shattered fish tanks. Michonne grabbed the glass, broke it of the pane, and stabbed the shard into the Governor's right eye.

SHUKK!

The Governor screamed in pain, released his hold on Michonne and flailed about the floor, his hands covering his damaged eye. Michonne, coughing for air, stood up, grabbed her katanna, and prepared to kill the Governor.

"Nooo!" a woman screamed.

Michonne spun around and saw Andrea, standing in the doorway, aiming a pistol at her. They stood in stunned silence for a moment, both friends pointing their weapons at each other.

"What have you done?" Andrea gasped.

Michonne didn't answer, and as she slowly made her way towards the door, Andrea stepped aside, and a moment later Michonne was running out of the Governor's apartment.

•••

 _What have I done?_ Michonne wondered to herself, as she repeated Andrea's question, _I killed the Governor's daughter out of revenge; I started a war between him and Rick. I left Andrea behind and she's dead too._

Michonne coughed again, louder this time and looked at the ceiling: it was obscured by black smoke; she realized the fire inside the apartment was spreading and getting stronger. _I've got to get out here,_ she told herself.

Michonne stood up, held the edge of her hooded cape over her nose and mouth with one hand, held onto her Glock 19 pistol with the other, and ran out of the burning apartment; her left shoulder hit the hallway hard and she cried in pain and fell to her knees. Michonne coughed into her cape, and her vision was blurred and watery by the black smoke and the flames, but she stood up, kept her bruised shoulder against the wall, and ran down the hallway until she reached the staircase. She let the edge of her cape fall away from her face and grabbed onto the handrail as she ran down the staircase, her lungs straining for oxygen, and she leapt onto the first floor and ran through the open front door and collapsed onto cold asphalt.

For several moments Michonne lay on Main Street, gasping for air until she caught her breath; she let go of her pistol, sat up, and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

That's when she saw him.

The Governor was standing only fifteen yards away from her; his hands were at his sides, his face hard like granite and his one eye burned with hatred.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Michonne sat on her knees and looked in disbelief at the Governor, who stood fifteen yards away from her as the town of Woodbury burned around the both of them. His mouth broke into a smirk, and her eyes went from disbelief to hatred.

"Hello, Michonne," The Governor spat contemptuously.

Michonne glared at the Governor and said nothing.

"So…did you come here for a fight?" The Governor asked as he looked at his burning town, "I'm game. "

Michonne's hand moved slowly to the Glock 19 pistol lying on the ground in front of her.

The Governor looked at Michonne and smirked maliciously again. "Of course, we had the perfect chance to end this war yesterday, but it didn't happen."

"The war **is** over!" Michonne shouted angrily, "we won!"

The Governor blinked. "Are you serious?" he asked. "I led my army into the prison, but instead of fighting us, you and Rick hid in your holes like rats, threw a few smoke bombs, and set the Biters loose on us. I wouldn't call that a victory, I'd call it cowardice."

"You killed your own army in cold blood. **That** was cowardice!" Michonne spat as her hand trembled above her pistol.

"I did what I did because they turned against me," the Governor said as he walked slowly towards Michonne, "my actions were extreme, but was my reason the same as yours when you left Andrea in Woodbury?"

At the mention of Andrea's name, Michonne grabbed the Glock 19 pistol and stood up. "I'm going to kill you," she said coldly as she aimed her pistol at the Governor.

At the sight of the pistol, the Governor stopped in his tracks and raised his arms to signal a halt. "Why? Am I the bad guy here?"

Michonne grit her teeth as her finger wrapped around the pistol's trigger.

"Listen to me," the Governor ordered: "When I met you and Andrea in the woods, she was sick; she would've died if I didn't bring her to Woodbury. I saved her life, not you."

The Governor lowered his arms but held them out in front of him as he resumed walking slowly forward. "And what about you, Michonne? I offered you a home, a spot on Merle's security team. You could've helped keep this town safe. You could've kept Andrea safe, but you refused; all because you didn't like me."

Michonne took her finger of the pistol's trigger and spun it around like a gunslinger, wrapped her fingers around the frame, and swung the pistol at the Governor like it was a hammer.

WHACK!

The butt of the pistol struck the Governor's head and he fell to his knees. Michonne stood over her enemy and screamed in rage as she struck him on his head again with all her might.

WHACK!

The Governor fell onto his left side and covered his bleeding head with his arms while Michonne walked past him and spun around, her hooded cape billowing behind her like canvas on a sailboat.

The Governor started laughing.

"Shut up!" Michonne ordered as her hand clenched around the pistol's frame.

The Governor's laughter dwindled as he took his arms away from his injured head and looked at the blood on his hands. "Did you come all this way just to club me to death, Michonne?" he asked.

Michonne raised the pistol over head to strike the Governor again but she hesitated, and she began to tremble with rage.

"I didn't think so," the Governor said as he sat up and looked at the enraged woman standing over him. "Beating my brains out isn't in your character."

The blood on the butt of the pistol dripped down to Michonne's hand, and she slowly backed away and lowered her arm to her side.

"So are you going to shoot me?" the Governor asked as he stood up. "That would be too quick. But if I remember my first visit to the prison correctly, your aim isn't very good."

Michonne's arms trembled slightly as she remembered the Governor's surprise attack a few days ago.

•••

The group had succeeded in rescuing Glenn and Maggie from the Governor, but they returned to the prison weaker and leaderless: Daryl had left them for his brother Merle, and Rick wasn't mentally fit to lead them: he had chased Tyreese and his group out of the prison at gunpoint, and spent the night on guard duty with an M4A1 rifle in his hands. Glenn took up the role of leader and made plans to fortify the prison, but what he really wanted was to kill the Governor. During a strategy meeting, Glenn approached Michonne with a plan where the two of them sneaked back into Woodbury and killed the Governor that night, and while she agreed with the plan she knew Glenn wasn't right for it because the young Korean was enraged over what the Governor had done to Maggie. What actually happened to the young woman wasn't clear, but after Michonne had seen the walker heads in the Governor's trophy room, she knew the man was capable of anything.

Michonne took one of the prison's M4A1 rifles and spent the night on guard in the courtyard. When the sun came up she climbed into the overturned prison bus that lay near the gate and slept through the morning. When Michone woke up, she climbed out of the bus, and she watched in shock as Rick ran across the field, unlocked the gate, and ran into the woods. At first Michonne thought Rick had spotted a Woodbury soldier, but he'd walk a few feet, stop, look around, and walk again like he was searching for someone; a while late Rick crossed the small bridge over the creek and stood there like he was caressing someone's cheek. Michonne guessed that Rick was imagining his wife Lori, who had died recently in childbirth.

An hour later Michonne watched as Glenn took the groups Dodge Ram 1500 and left to scout the rear of the prison, and a few minutes after that, she watched Hershel hobble on his crutches down to the fences and try to convince Rick to come inside and rest, but the sheriff's deputy wouldn't listen.

BRAKKA!

A shot rang out. Michonne put her back against the bus, and peeked around it to see the Governor, standing out in the open with an assault rifle. Michonne peeked around the bus again, raised the stock of her rifle up to her shoulder, aimed down the iron sights at the Governor, and pulled the trigger.

BRAKKA!

A gunfight broke out between Rick's group and the Governor's group, but it stopped almost as quickly as it began. The sound of gunfire was replaced by a roaring engine that grew louder and louder and Michonne saw a bread truck speeding towards her. The bread truck smashed through the gate, and Michonne just barely got out of its way as it roared past her and came to a stop in the middle of the field.

It seemed as though both sides were watching the bread truck when Michonne noticed it had a ramp welded onto its rear; a moment later the ramp came down like a draw bridge and several walkers staggered out of its cargo hold and advanced slowly on Hershel. A few moments after that the driver's side door slid open and the bread truck's driver—a figure dressed in body armor, helmet, and goggles— climbed out of the vehicle and began shooting a pistol at Michonne as she ran towards the open gate. Michonne ran around the overturned bus for cover as the driver of the "walker bomb" ran past the bus and escaped.

The Governor and his henchmen left Rick's group to be overrun by the walkers. Michonne unsheathed her katana and ran to Hershel's rescue, decapitating all the walkers that stood in her path. Glenn, who returned just as the Governor drove away, sped onto the field, reached Hershel first, and he and Michonne got the crippled farmer into the truck. Up on the courtyard, Maggie, Beth, Carol, and Carl opened the courtyard's gate and gave covering fire as Glenn drove Hershel and Michonne up the hill and the moderate safety of the courtyard.

As for Rick, the gunfight attracted dozens of walkers and he found himself trapped and out of ammunition for his M4A1 rifle and Colt Python revolver. Rick defended himself by using his service revolver as a club, but two of the walkers pinned him against the chain link fence. Rick screamed in anger and desperation as he fought to break free of the walkers' hold, but his strength was waning and the walker in front snapped at his neck.

THUNK!

The fire in the walker's yellow eyes went cold and its jaw went slack. Rick froze in shock and a moment later saw the bloody arrow sticking out of the dead walker's forehead.

Daryl was back. And he brought Merle with him.

Merle, shouting and with a rusty pole in his one hand, rushed forward and stabbed the second walker pining Rick against the fence through its head. Now free, Rick found a second wind and resumed clubbing walkers with his pistol, while Merle did likewise with the metal covering on his right stump. Daryl, meanwhile, loaded a fresh arrow onto his crossbow and shot it into another walker staggering towards Rick.

The Governor was gone. The convict Axel was dead, the gate was destroyed, and the prison's field was lost to the walkers. But the group was reunited and Rick had rekindled the fire to lead them.

•••

Michonne was shaken out of her memories by the sound of a footstep. She blinked and saw the Governor walking slowly towards her as droplets of blood ran slowly down the side of his head. Michonne eyes widened and she pointed her Glock 19 at the Governor again; he stopped in his tracks.

"Excuse me for scaring you," the Governor smirked as he turned his head slightly to the right so he could glare at Michonne with his one eye, "I just thought I'd get a little closer so you'd have a better shot."

"Fuck you!" Michonne spat.

The Governor laughed and wiped the droplets of blood away; he looked at the blood and smudged it between his fingers. "Are you going to shoot me, or should I just sit down so you can crack my skull open like a walnut?"

Michonne silently tucked the pistol against the small of her back, reached over her shoulder and slowly unsheathed her katana.

"Ah, your sword," the Governor nodded with familiarity.

Michonne held the katana in front of her and glared at the Governor.

"Point a gun at a man these days, and he won't even flinch," the Governor sneered, "but draw a sword on him, and he's terrified. You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Michonne?"

Michonne blinked and remembered the Governor surprising her in his trophy room; she had pushed the little walker girl she had found in front of her as a shield, but the Governor was afraid, and begging her to not hurt his "little girl". After discovering the walker heads in the fish tanks, she didn't want to think of the reasons why the Governor would keep a little walker girl in a closet. But now she knew who Penny was, and why he believed she was alive somehow.

"I'm sorry about Penny," Michonne said honestly.

Now it was the Governor who blinked, but the hate in his eye flared again like a dying match rejuvenated by kindling. "Do you think an apology will bring my little girl back?" he asked, "do you think an apology will end this war?"

"No, it won't," Michonne answered, "but I didn't know Penny was your daughter. And this war should've stayed between the both of us. Andrea, Rick, and the others…they never should've been dragged into it."

The Governor nodded at Michonne as he opened and closed his fists. "So are you ready to end this?" he asked.

"I am," Michonne answered.

The Governor growled like an angry wolf and he ran towards Michonne with his hands out to grasp her.

Michonne swung her katana.

SHLOKK!

The sword sliced through the Governor's neck and his head flipped backwards in the air while his body continued moving forward. Michonne stepped aside and the Governor's body staggered past her and fell onto Main Street while his head landed behind it at the same moment. Michonne spun the sword in her hand and drove it into the Governor's forehead; she put her foot on his face, pulled her sword free, and a thin stream of blood and brain matter flew off the blade. Michonne looked down at her vanquished enemy and her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock; the face staring up at her wasn't the Governor's…it was an old, male walker, with decaying skin, shoulder length white hair, and cloudy eyes that were once yellow with anger.

 _What…what the hell is this?_ Michonne asked herself as she stepped away from the walker's head, _that's supposed to be the Governor!_

Michonne knelt down and looked closely at the dismembered head. On its scalp were two cuts, and the deepest had dark blood dripping out of it. She stood up and looked at the body lying on its stomach and saw the body was emaciated and it wore a business jacket that had become tattered from prolonged exposure to the elements; it wasn't the Governor's body.

The katana felt heavy in Michonne's hand, her arms fell to her sides, and the tip of its blade hit Main Street with a clang.

 _I…I just argued…with a walker_?

Michonne looked at the shattered gate and saw several walkers staggering into Woodbury, but they were attracted by the flames and were moving at their best speed into the buildings were they'd burn to cinders.

 _But did other walkers get inside Woodbury before the fires started?_

Michonne raised her katana and spun around, she looked wildly for an approaching walker, but there were none. She looked down at the severed walker head one last time: it hadn't changed appearances; it was still the face of an old male with **two** cloudy eyes. It wasn't the Governor, it never had been.

 _Bullshit! He_ _ **was**_ _here. He_ _ **is**_ _here! Where is that bastard hiding?_

Michonne looked around the burning town and her eyes froze in one direction: the warehouse; the place where the Governor kept Andrea prisoner and the place where Andrea died. Michonne tightened her grip on the handle of her katana and started running.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Michonne ran down the Main Street of Woodbury, holding her katana in both hands and her hooded cape billowing behind her while beads of sweat ran down her face and arms. All the buildings on either side of Main Street were now engulfed in flames and if Michonne stopped to think about it, she'd think that she was in a sauna. But she didn't stop to think; all she could think about was finding and killing the Governor.

The place Michonne was running towards was the warehouse, located on the other side of the burning town. It was the place where the Governor had set up a torture chamber he'd meant for, but it ended up being the place where Andrea was held prisoner…and died. Michonne believed this was where the Governor was hiding; she had searched his apartment minutes before, but didn't find him there.

But when Michonne ran out of the burning apartment building it seemed like she **had** found the Governor: he was standing in the middle of the street, unarmed and glaring at her with his one eye. He had taunted her about the war and Andrea's death, so she pistol-whipped him twice. When he challenged her to shoot him, she put her gun away and drew her sword. He charged her, and she swung her sword, decapitated him, and when his severed head landed on the street, she stabbed it in the forehead with her sword. But when Michonne removed the blade she was shocked that the frozen face staring up at her wasn't the Governor…but a walker.

Michonne couldn't explain what had happened: was it some kind of trick, a figment of her imagination, or had breathing in the smoke from the fires affected her mind? These theories speed through her mind for a nanosecond before she told herself that the Governor truly was in Woodbury, and if he wasn't in his apartment, he'd be in the warehouse.

The warehouse rose in the horizon, but Michonne slowed down when she saw two dark figures blocking her path…walkers. Michonne had recently snuck Rick, Daryl, and Oscar into Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie, so she couldn't be surprised that walkers could do the same.

The two walkers saw Michonne running leisurely towards them, and they growled hungrily and staggered towards her. Michonne panted for breath as she raised her katana and prepared to strike.

The closest walker was a young black male, and its lower back was twisted as if when it was human, it had been struck and killed by a speeding car. The male walker snarled and reached out its left hand to grab Michonne, who stopped running and swung her katana.

WHUKK!

The sword sliced off the male walker's left forearm and as it staggered backwards, lost its balance and fell onto its right side. Michonne stepped forward and stood over the fallen walker, twirled the katana in her hand, and drove the blade down.

SHLUKK!

The katana's point pierced the male walker's left temple, and its low growling stopped like a radio that had been turned off. Michonne pulled her sword free, and as she twirled her sword into a defensive position, droplets of dark blood and bits of brain matter flew off the blade and onto the street.

The second walker was another black male, and it had pieces of flesh stuck in its bloodstained beard, and it growled as it raised its bloodstained hands at Michonne.

Michonne took one step and thrust her katana at the bearded walker's head.

SHLUKK!

The sword pierced the bearded walker's forehead and stuck out the back of its skull. The walker froze in place, with its arms still extended towards Michonne, who placed her free hand on the bearded walker's shoulder, and used it as leverage to pull her sword free, and now that it was separated from the blade that was keeping it on its feet, the bearded walker fell backwards and hit the street with a heavy thud. Michonne looked down at the dead walker, shook the blood and brain matter off her sword, and resumed running towards the warehouse.

When Michonne reached the warehouse, she stood beside the door and waited a minute to wipe the sweat from her brow and catch her breath. Once again she had a decision to make: confront the Governor with her katana or her pistol; and once again she sheathed her sword, reached behind the small of her back and pulled out her Glock 19 pistol. Michonne slowly reached for the doorknob, turned it, pulled the door creaked open, and peeked cautiously down the dark hallway. It was empty; the Governor wasn't waiting for her to step out in the open so he could gun her down.

Michonne stepped inside the warehouse, flipped the light switch on, and a pale light from a lamp hanging over the center of the hallway flickered to life. Michonne could now see the left turn at the end of the hallway, so she closed the front door, put her left shoulder against the wall, aimed her pistol down the hallway, and moved forward cautiously.

When Michonne reached the end of the hallway, she stopped for a moment, and peeked around the corner: she saw another empty hallway, with another lamp giving off pale light hanging over its center and at its end a right turn; down that turn was the Governor's torture chamber, and Michonne was certain he was there, waiting for her to enter so he could capture her and finally put his tools to work.

Michonne turned the corner and, still aiming her pistol, moved cautiously down the hallway. As she neared the turn to the right, she stepped across the hallway, put her right shoulder against the wall, and waited a few moments before peaking around the corner: she saw another pale light, the metal door to the torture chamber, and the puddle of blood that had seeped underneath it, now dry like a puddle of spilled crimson paint.

Michonne turned the corner and aimed her Glock 19 pistol at the metal door as she walked towards it. Her heart was beating inside her chest as she wrapped her free hand around the door handle, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

There was a figure standing with its back to the door. Michonne's eyes widened and she put both hands on her pistol as she took aim and stepped inside the torture room. "Don't move, you bastard!" she ordered.

The figure kept still. Michonne saw that it was a man and her finger tightened around the pistol's trigger. She looked beyond the man and saw the barber's chair, and on the left armrest was one of the snapped handcuffs that had kept Andrea trapped to the chair. Michonne's hands began to shake with anger and she struggle to keep her gun aimed at the mystery man.

"Turn around slowly," Michonne ordered.

The man did as he was instructed and Michonne gasped in shock. It was Milton Mamet, the Governor's advisor and researcher. But Milton wasn't alive…he was a walker.

"Mil…Milton?" Michonne stammered as she looked over the pistol's sights and remembered yesterday when she, Rick, and Daryl burst into the torture chamber to rescue Andrea. Michonne caught a glimpse of Milton's corpse lying on the floor, but the site of Andrea crumpled against the wall grasped her attention. To Michonne's horror, Andrea was bitten, and she held Andrea's hand, closed her eyes and turned way as Andrea put Rick's revolver underneath her jaw and pulled the trigger, killing herself before she could die from the fever and turn into a walker. After they returned to the prison with Andrea's corpse and the surviving Woodburians, Rick theorized that the Governor had killed Milton and left him here so he could die, turn, and bite Andrea. But as the walker Milton bit into Andrea's shoulder, she drove the pliers she used to free herself into his temple, killing him. But how could the walker Milton still be "alive", when its brain had been destroyed?

"Michonne?" a male voice asked weakly.

The voice pulled Michonne out of her memories and she raised her pistol in the voice's direction: the walker Milton.

The walker version of Milton Mamet had a bloody stab wound in its chest. It brought its right hand to the frames of its glasses, and readjusted their place on the bridge of its nose. "Michonne, is that you?" it asked again.

Michonne blinked in shock at the walker standing in front of her. "Milton? But…How…?"

"It **is** you!" Walker Milton said with a smile. "Where's Andrea? What happened to the Governor? The war—"

"Andrea's…dead," Michonne answered, as she stared wide-eyed at the walker Milton. "The Governor is hiding somewhere in Woodbury. The war's over. Rick's people… **my people** , won."

The walker Milton smiled again and nodded approvingly. "That's good news, winning the war, I mean." It then lowered its shoulders and a sad expression came over its face. "I…I didn't want to hurt Andrea," it said mournfully. "I bit her. I couldn't…control myself."

"It wasn't your fault," Michonne said sympathetically.

"Yes, it was!" the walker Milton shouted as a tear ran down its eye, "when I woke up, I was hungry. So hungry, and—"

"You…'woke up'?" Michonne interrupted.

"Yes!" walker Milton nodded excitedly. "After my many observations of the biters I knew what would happen when I woke up! The biters…they…they eat! From the moment they turn to the moment they are put down they eat! "

The walker Milton covered its face with its hands and bent over as it sobbed mournfully. Michonne watched the walker's emotional breakdown in disbelief, but she kept her Glock 19 pistol aimed at it.

"I…I understand," Michonne said comfortingly.

"No, you don't understand!" the walker Milton whined as its fingers grasped at its hair, "You have no conception of the kind of pain I'm experiencing!"

"I understand, Milton!" Michonne shouted. "The Governor killed you, and when you turned, you bit Andrea! You're not human anymore, you're a walker!"

"I didn't bite Andrea because I'm a walker; I bit Andrea because I was hungry!" Milton shouted as he pulled his hair out. "Humans, biters and walkers: we get hungry! And hunger will kill us all if we don't eat!"

The walker Milton opened its hands and the locks of hair floated to the floor while it looked at Michonne with angry, yellow eyes. "I need flesh, Michonne."

Michonne gasped and took a step back. "Stay away from me, Milton," she warned as she jabbed at the air with her pistol for emphasis.

The walker Milton took a step forward. "I can't bear the pain anymore," it explained with anger rising in its voice.

"Stay away from me!" Michonne ordered as she tightened her finger's hold on her pistol's trigger.

"Flesh stops the hunger," the walker Milton explained as it advanced slowly towards Michonne, "after I've eaten you, I'll be at peace for hours, maybe even days. When the hunger returns, I'll go to the prison and eat your group. Perhaps I'll start with Rick—"

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The walker Milton's body' jerked backwards as the 9mm bullets smashed into it. The first three bullets struck its upper chest; the last two struck it in the head and it fell to the floor, dead.

Michonne's ears rang from the echo of the gunfire, and she shut her eyes in pain and put her hands over them as she stood in the doorway of the torture room. After the ringing faded, she opened her eyes and saw the walker Milton laying on the floor dead…only it was laying in the same position she remembered from yesterday. Michonne put her hands down at her sides, looked straight ahead, and saw five bullet holes in the far wall.

 _What…what the hell happened?_ Michonne asked herself; then she thought back to her confrontation on Main Street with the Governor minutes before: she decapitated him with her katana, but after she ran her sword through the Governor's severed head, she realized "the Governor" had been a walker the whole time. _So Milton's been lying dead on the floor since yesterday, just like the Governor wasn't standing on the street. I…I must be going crazy._

"Nice shooting, Tex," a familiar voice quipped weakly.

Michonne peeked into the torture room and looked down to her left and she gasped in shock. Andrea was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall; a sad smile was on her face.

"Andrea!" Michonne shouted in surprise as she stepped inside the torture room again and knelt in front of her friend. Michonne, put her pistol down on the floor; then she put her hands on Andrea's shoulders and pulled her close for a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry I left you behind!" Michonne cried onto Andera's left shoulder, "I'm sorry!"

"You warned me about this place, about him," Andrea reminded Michonne as she returned the embrace.

"I should've dragged you with me."

"I would've fought back. We're two stubborn broads."

Michonne laughed despite her tears and Andrea smiled. When Michonne finally calmed down, she broke the embrace and looked at her friend. "Come on, the whole town's on fire. We've got to get out of here before the flames reach the warehouse."

Andrea smiled sadly. "I can't go with you, Michonne."

Michonne looked dumbfound at Andrea. "What do you mean? I can take you back to the prison. We need you. You belong with us. You always belonged with us!"

"Be careful, Michonne, it sounds like you've bought into the team concept," Andrea quipped.

"Maybe I have; maybe I'll say anything to get you on your feet. So stand up and let's get the hell out of here!"

Michonne slipped her hands under Andrea's arm and began lifting her friend to her feet, but Andrea pushed Michonne away and she slid back down to the floor. Michonne knelt down in front of Andrea, "What are you doing?!" she asked.

"I said I can't go with you," Andrea answered weakly.

"Why?" Michonne asked.

Andrea raised her left hand and pulled back her vest and shirt, revealing a bloody bite wound. Michonne's eyes widened in horror, and now she saw that Andrea was sweating and realized that when she embraced her friend, her skin was hot as a furnace.

"I'm sorry, Michonne," Andrea said.

Michonne cried as she covered her face with her hands. "I failed you again. I failed you again," she wailed.

"You never failed me, Michonne," Andrea said comfortingly.

Michonne took her hands away from her face and looked at her dying friend.

"I joked once that I saved your ass all winter, but the truth is you saved mine more times than I can count," Andrea admitted, "you warned me about the Governor, but I wouldn't listen. When I visited the prison I could've stayed, but I didn't. When the peace conference between Rick and the Governor failed, Hershel asked me to go back with them, but I didn't. I had plenty of chances to leave, but I didn't take them until it was too late. That's my fault, not yours, so stop blaming yourself."

Michonne looked at Andrea as her confession sunk in. "All right," she nodded.

"Good," said Andrea. "Now, there are two things you have to promise me."

"What are they?" Michonne asked.

"First: don't stop looking for the Governor. And when you find him…kill him. Because if you don't he'll come back and kill the group."

Michonne nodded.

"Second: you have to put me down."

"No!" Michonne pleaded.

"You have to," Andrea said calmly.

Michonne shook her head as tears ran down her face. "I can't do it."

"You have to," Andrea repeated firmly. "Otherwise I'll turn. And when I turn, I'll bite you, and then what's happening to me will happen to you."

Michonne looked at the dying Andrea for a few moments and she made her decision. "All right," she nodded.

"Thank you, Michonne," Andrea smiled softly.

Michonne picked up her Glock 19 pistol and stood up; she and Andrea looked sadly at each other for a few moments until Andrea nodded, Michonne nodded in return and aimed her pistol at Andrea's forehead. Andrea took one last breath and closed her eyes. Michonne's hand started to tremble, but she kept her pistol aimed on Andrea's forehead.

BLAM!

The 9mm bullet smashed into Andrea's forehead, went through her brain, exited out the back of her head and became embedded in the wall. A second later Andrea's upper body struck the wall, and she slid slowly to the floor, leaving a smear of blood and brain matter from the bullet hole to the floor where she came to rest on her right side.

Michonne's ears rang again but she didn't feel the pain this time. She blinked her eyes and saw that Andrea was gone, so was the bloody smear her head left as her upper body slid onto the floor. All that was left was the bullet hole in the wall.

 _Andrea…Andrea wasn't here,_ Michonne thought to herself. _She was bit and took her own life while I held her hand, and then we took her back to the prison and buried her in the group's cemetery. She wasn't here, Milton wasn't here, and the Governor wasn't here either. I…I must be going crazy._

Michonne took a step towards the doorway, but she stopped and looked down at the spot on the floor where she found Andrea yesterday, and imagined her sitting just moments ago. "Andrea, I started this day hunting the Governor, and I'll keep on hunting him; there's nothing crazy about that. We've seen how charismatic he is and we've seen what he's capable of. Soon as he builds up a new group he'll lead them to the prison and the war will start again. I'll find him, Andrea. I promise."

Michonne walked out of the torture chamber and closed the door behind her. Then she walked along the hallways and out the front door to see that Woodbury had become an inferno as black clouds drifted overhead.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

To Michonne, it was as if she were looking at Hell: the buildings of Woodbury had become columns of flame, and their frames looked like blackened matches that were about to crumble, and as if to demonstrate, one frame disintegrated and the column of flame collapsed into the building's foundation, and spilt out across Main Street like a fiery ocean while from its center, a fireball shot into the sky amongst the black clouds. But to Michonne, the most unnerving sight was the herd of walkers staggering before the fires; blackened, growling shadows that looked like devils who were shoveling fuel onto the fires instead of half-dead corpses that staggered mindlessly into the inferno and be consumed by the hungry flames.

Michonne suddenly double over and coughed loudly and harshly; she had been so mesmerized by the inferno and the herd that she had unknowingly been breathing in the black smoke. Michonne grabbed the edge of her hooded cape with her left hand, covered her nose and mouth with it, and took short, quick breaths until she regained her composure; she stood up and placed her back against the warehouse.

A growl burst from Michonne's right, and she turned her head to see a young female walker with auburn hair close enough to bite her. Michonne quickly raised her right hand and fired her Glock 19 pistol.

BLAM!

The 9mm bullet shattered the female walker's upper teeth and continued on through its mouth and exited the back of its head, taking blood and pieces of bone and brain stem with it. The female walker—now dead again— froze in place for a moment before it fell backwards and onto the ground. Michonne lowered her gun and trembled, realizing how close she came to being bit or having her jugular bitten out, and then she doubled over and she started coughing again. Michonne grabbed the edge of her hooded cape, put it back over her nose and mouth, and took short quick breaths until she could stand straight again.

 _That was stupid!_ Michonne scolded herself. _You knew there would be walkers in this town_ _ **before**_ _you even left the prison! You better stop getting distracted—and stop seeing ghosts—or you're going to get yourself killed!_

Michonne looked straight ahead again at the inferno and the herd. _I could walk right past them—they won't notice me if I'm careful, and the smoke will cover my scent as good as walker guts—but I can barely breathe as it is; one coughing fit and they'll swarm me. If I want to reach that jeep, I'll have to find another way._

Michonne looked to her left: there was a street with blue collar businesses like automotive repair or welding on its right, and plumbing or glaziers on its left. Several walkers were staggering across the street; they were moving towards the inferno and were oblivious of Michonne's presence.

 _If I go that way, slip past those walkers, and run towards the wall, I could spot a side street on the right that can lead me to the jeep._

Michonne slipped the Glock 19 pistol against the small of her back; then she reached over her shoulder, drew her katana, and began walking down the street with the edge of her hooded cape still pressed against her nose and mouth by her left hand.

The walkers crossing the street were transfixed on the inferno like it was a moving image on a movie screen. Michonne stopped and stood still; she tightened her grip on her katana and held her breath as a female walker approached from her left. The female walker didn't glance at Michonne and kept gazing at the inferno, but Michonne kept watching until the female staggered past her. Michonne sighed in relief and continued moving forward slowly.

Two more walkers began to cross the street; Michonne stopped and stood still again as they staggered past her, and she resumed her slow but steady progress along the street, but curiosity got the better of Michonne and she turned her head slightly to the left: the Governor had put up walls in-between the business along the street, and while that saved metal and labor, it also left weak points like windows, doors, and cracks between metal and brick. It was how Michonne snuck Rick and his group into Woodbury, and it was how the herd was breaking in. Walkers began staggering outside the business after breaking through the boarded windows and the back doors, or they staggering out of the alleys after bending the panels of wall back and squeezing through.

A growl rose in front of Michonne, and she looked straight ahead to see a male walker turning slowly towards her.

 _Shit!_ Michonne thought to herself. _I thought I only looked at the wall for a second—_

The male walker growled louder and reached its hands out to grasp Michonne; she dropped the edge of her hooded cape, grasped her katana with both hands, and slashed at the male walker's hands.

SHUKK!

The male walker's hands flew up in the air and fell onto the street. The male walker stumbled back in surprise, and Michonne slashed at it again.

SHLOKK!

The katana sliced through the male walker's neck, and its head flipped up the air and fell onto the street like the male walker's hands did earlier, while the walker's body fell onto its left side.

Michonne took a defensive stance with her katana and looked around: the walkers on the street were turning slowly towards her, and their combined growling rose like a Mack truck's engine grumbling to life.

"Shit!" Michonne muttered angrily.

The walkers began staggering towards Michonne, who began running forward as quickly as she could.

The first walker to stagger in front of Michonne's path was a young male, and it wore an Atlanta Braves baseball jersey with the Tomahawk portion of the logo obscured by dried blood and gore. Michonne swung her katana at the young walker in a downward, curving motion.

SHLUKK!

The sword cut into the center of the baseball walker's scalp and continued on its curving downward path until it exited the bottom of the baseball walker's jaw. The baseball walker—now dead—froze in place as the left side of its head broke off the skin from the right side and fell to the street, and a piece of brain matter spilled out of it. The dead walker itself fell backwards and landed onto the street with its arms spread out.

Michonne took a quick look to her left and her right. The other walkers were staggering towards her, with their arms out to grasp her and pull her in for a fatal bite. Michonne resumed running and tried to ignore the pain in her lungs as she breathed in the smoke from the inferno.

Michonne hadn't run far when the next walker staggered into her path: it was another male, but when Michonne saw the bloodstained badge pinned on the walker, she skidded to a stop, looked at the walker's face, and her eyes widened in shock. It was Rick Grimes—dead and turned into a walker— its eyes were yellow, its skin was molting, and it had a bite mark on its right hand.

"No. No! You're not real!" Michonne shouted fearfully.

The walker Rick growled angrily at Michonne while strands of bloody saliva hung from his teeth.

"You're not Rick!"

Michonne narrowed her eyes and thrust her katana at the walker Rick's face.

SHUKK!

The katana went into the walker Rick's wide-open mouth and exited out the back of its head, blood, teeth, and pieces of bone and brain stem slid off the blade and fell onto the street while walker Rick's arms fell to its sides as it died for the final time. Michonne stepped forward, held onto walker Rick's shoulder with her left hand, and looked at its face closely: that's when she realized it wasn't Rick; it was a Georgia State Patrolman, and it was clean shaven and it had a buzz cut. Michonne lowered her head and sighed with relief.

The growls behind Michonne grew louder, and she stood up straight and looked over her shoulder to see the other walkers were only yards away. Michonne pulled her katana out of the dead police officer walker's mouth, and its legs suddenly buckled; she slipped her left arm around the dead patrolman walker's shoulders and stood alongside it to keep it standing.

Michonne looked at the walkers again: their jaws were snapping in anticipation of the meal they anticipated. Michonne shoved the dead patrolman walker towards its comrades; it collided with the closest walker and they both fell onto the street.

Michonne spun around and ran down the street again. She fought the urge to cough as she breathed in the black smoke of the inferno. As she ran she looked down the side streets on her right for the Jeep Wrangler YJ she had driven to Woodbury, but all she saw were walkers or the burning remains of walkers that had succumbed to the inferno. Michonne stopped running at the end of the street and stood underneath the wall that surrounded Woodbury, and looked down the side street: the Jeep was at the end of the street—where she parked it—near the shattered gate. Around the jeep were a handful of walkers that had just staggered inside Woodbury.

 _Shit,_ Michonne thought angrily as she stood with her left hand covering her mouth as she coughed the black smoke out of her lungs.

After Michonne had composed herself, she switched her katana to her left hand, reached into her pants pocket, and dug out the jeep's keychain. Michone looked at the fob and saw it was a painting of Jesus Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. _I'll take all the help I can get,_ Michonne thought as she clenched the fob between her teeth. Michonne then switched her katana back to her right hand and she began walking down the side street.

The new walkers stood and gazed in wonder at the inferno before them. Once the awe had worn off, they would stagger into the flames like their comrades were doing, but Michonne would reach them first.

•••

Michonne approached a female walker that had lost its right eye when it turned its head towards her. Michonne stopped walking and swung her katana at the one eyed walker.

SVASSH!

The sword decapitated the one eyed walker, and its severed head went flying towards the wall while its body fell to its knees and a moment later, fell chest first onto the ground.

A second female walker turned its whole body towards Michonne and groaned in confusion as to what just happened. Michonne raised her katana up in the air, and brought it down on the top of female walker's skull.

THROK!

The katana chopped through the female walker's skull and it shook as its brain was split in two. When Michonne pulled the gore covered blade out of the female walker's skull, it fell onto its back, dead.

Michonne ran towards the jeep, as the remaining new walkers began to realize live game was in their midst. A shirtless male walker stood in front of the jeep's passenger door, and it had begun to turn around when Michonne swung her katana at its neck.

SVASSH!

The katana sliced through the shirtless male walker's neck and its decapitated head flew over the jeep's hood as its body collapsed to the ground. Michonne saw another male walker standing on the driver's side of the jeep, and it climbed on the driver's side step and held the jeep's roll bar as it growled angrily at her. Michonne stepped onto the passenger's side step, held onto the roll bar with her left hand, and thrust her katana at the male walker's face.

SHLUKK!

The katana pierced the male walker's right eye socket, and went through its brain and exited the back of its skull. Michonne pulled her katana out of the dead walker's skull, and it let go of the jeep's roll bar and fell onto the ground.

Michonne ducked underneath the roll bar, climbed into the jeep, and stepped across to the driver's seat; she dropped her bloodstained katana onto the passenger seat, and a moment later she unslung her scabbard and dropped it beside her katana. Michonne reached behind the small of her back, pulled out her Glock 19 pistol, and sat down in the driver's seat.

A male walker staggered over to the jeep, pounded its fist onto the hood and growled angrily at Michonne, who calmly switched the Glock 19 pistol to her left hand, aimed the pistol at the walker, and fired.

BLAM!

The 9mm bullet struck the male walker in the forehead and it fell dead alongside the jeep.

Michonne put the pistol on the dashboard, and clenched the steering wheel, then with her right hand she took the keychain fob which was still clenched between her teeth, put the keys in the jeep's ignition, turned it, and the jeep's engine rumbled itself awake.

The new walkers were staggering towards the jeep and growling in unison. Michonne put the jeep in reverse, looked over her shoulder, and stepped on the gas pedal.

VROOM!

Michonne backed the jeep into the new walkers and knocked them down like bowling pins, and as the jeep rolled over their rotting corpses, it bounced wildly and Michonne heard a loud crunch as a tire crushed a walker's head. Michonne stepped on the break and she looked forward to see a clear path to the shattered gate; a second later she put the Jeep in drive, stepped on the gas pedal, and sped out of the inferno that was once Woodbury.

•••

Michonne was driving along the road back to the prison when she saw a road sign up ahead. She slowed the jeep down so she could read the sign: Russo Rd. When she stopped at the sign she looked down the dirt road that stretched out into the woods.

 _There has to be a house or two up that road,_ Michonne thought, _The Governor could be up there. Houses up that road are closer to the prison and out of sight; they're the perfect hiding spot._

Michonne turned the Jeep to the right and drove up Russo Rd. After driving half a mile across the rocky road, she saw a cabin to the left, with a Ford F-250 Super Duty Truck parked in the driveway. Michone parked behind the truck, and quickly noticed two dead walkers: one lying in front of the truck, and another lying in the overgrown front yard. Michonne took the keys out of the ignition and put them in her pants pocket; then she stood up, picked up her katana and scabbard from the passenger seat, and sheathed her blade. Michonne then picked up her Glock 19 pistol from the dashboard and jumped out of the jeep.

Michonne slung her katana across her back, and with her pistol in hand, cautiously approached the dead walker lying on the driveway. Its head rested in a pool of dried, dark blood, and it had a deep stab wound in its forehead. Michonne then cautiously approached the dead walker lying in the yard, and it too, had a deep stab wound in its forehead. The wounds on both walkers, plus the house's proximity to Woodbury, made Michone speculate that Merle Dixon had led a scavenging party to this house early in the Governor's reign, and he killed the two walkers with the bayonet attachment on the metal covering around the stump of his right hand.

Michonne raised her pistol and approached the house cautiously; she stepped onto the porch and noticed the door was partially closed, so she placed the fingertips of her left hand on the door, and pushed it open gently. The door creaked on its hinges as it revealed the house's interior.

The house was a shambles: furniture overturned, picture frames smashed, cabinets opened and their contents scattered across the floor. Michonne stepped inside with her pistol drawn and swept the house from the first floor, to the cellar, and to the attic, but she didn't find any walkers, survivors, or the Governor.

•••

Michonne brushed her forearm across her dirty, sweaty forehead as she returned to the living room. She shut the front door and locked it; then she placed her Glock 19 pistol against the small of her back. Michonne sighed wearily as she put the coffee table and the couch back on their feet, and put the couch's seats back in place; she then unslung her katana and placed it on the coffee table, and then she unknotted her hooded cape and draped it across the couch as she walked down the hallway and into the bathroom.

When Michonne looked at her reflection in the medicine cabinet's mirror, she gasped: soot and sweat covered her face, and her eyes were bloodshot and tired. Michonne suddenly felt hunger, thirst, and exhaustion roll over her. She put her hands on the sink and lowered her head as she exhaled wearily.

Michonne turned both handles of the faucet, and warm water spilled into the sink. Michonne cupped her hands underneath it and let the water fill her hands and she splashed it onto her face; she repeated the process three more times, took the hand towel off the rack and wiped her face clean. The water was invigorating, but she knew it was temporary, what she needed was food and sleep.

Michonne walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator: it was empty except for condiments and an open pack of Coca Cola. Michonne reached inside the pack, took one of the ice cold cans, and looked at it. _Merle was probably pissed there wasn't any beer in the fridge, so he left the Coke behind,_ she thought. Michonne chuckled as she popped the tab and guzzled down the cold tonic.

Her thirst quenched, Michonne searched the ransacked kitchen for any food that may have also been left behind. She quickly found a box of spaghetti and a cooking pot lying on the floor. _Merle probably had his fill of spaghetti too,_ Michonne thought.

Michonne picked up the box of spaghetti and set it on the counter; a moment later the cooking pot and its lid were placed beside it. Michonne turned the handles on the kitchen sink's faucet and warm water spilled into the sink. As Michonne began to wash the cooking pot clean, she thought about Merle again: how he kidnapped her to fulfill Rick's decision to hand her over to the Governor as a peace offering, but chose not to and set her free. Merle drove on and fought the Governor's army alone. Merle sacrificed himself for the group, and a large reason why they were still alive was because of him. Michonne had warned Merle that no one, not even Daryl, would mourn him, but now she wished he had gone back with her to the prison.

•••

Michonne took the cooking pot off the stove and carefully poured the hot water into the kitchen sink. The spaghetti smelled delicious, and her stomach growled in anticipation of the meal. Michonne poured the spaghetti into a steel colander and returned to the oven to stir the marinara sauce.

 _Woodbury's burnt to the ground, and the Governor wasn't hiding in here, so what do I do now?_ Michonne thought. _I can stay here for the night and keep looking for him tomorrow. But I can't stay out here too long. Eventually I'll have to return to the prison._

A crow cawed outside and flew away. Michonne's right hand went from the wooden spoon in the pot and went to the grip of her Glock 19 pistol tucked against the small of her back. She walked out of the kitchen and approached the living room window cautiously. Michonne reached the wall, waited a moment, and peeked out the window.

The Governor was walking down the street.

Michonne's eyes widened in shock, but she sprang immediately towards the couch and grabbed her katana. She then ran towards the door, unlocked it, flung it open, and ran outside.

The sound of the front door bursting open made the Governor stop in his tracks, but when he saw Michonne running out of the house he smiled in greeting. Michonne drew her katana and dropped her scabbard as she stood on the walkway.

"Hello," the Governor said as he placed his hands on his hips, "I see you got out of Woodbury with your dreadlocks singed."

Michonne glared at the Governor for a moment and said, "You killed your people and you burned down your town. Maybe you should drop your title."

"I don't think so. After all, soon as I find another desperate group, they'll appoint me their leader and I'll lead them straight to the prison."

Michonne raised her katana and took a step forward. "I'll kill you first," she promised.

"Tell me, have you always been this violent, or did the end of the world make you this way?"

Michonne glared at the Governor, who laughed heartily.

"I left Andrea handcuffed in that room I built for you," the Governor said as he stepped onto the walkway. "I also left Milton to keep her company. Only he wasn't the same man anymore."

Michonne almost sprang at the Governor, but she kept her rage in check for now.

"Did you find Andrea?" the Governor asked as started walking towards Michonne.

"Yes," Michonne answered coldly.

"You were too late to save her, weren't you?"

"Yes."

The Governor stopped in his tracks and turned his head so he could see Michonne better with his one eye. "Did you kill her?"

"She asked me to put her down."

The Governor smiled and waved a finger like a parent correcting a disobedient child. "No, don't sugarcoat it. Whether Andrea asked you to put her down, or you saw it as an act of mercy, it was still murder."

Michonne's eyes burned with anger as she hissed in a breath. "Fuck you!" she spat angrily.

"First you killed my men, then you killed my little girl, and now you've killed Andrea," the Governor tallied. "You may think that killing me will avenge Andrea, but the truth is Michonne, you've become a monster."

Michonne shouted in rage as she ran towards the Governor, and swung her katana at his neck.

WHUKK!

The katana's blade sliced across the Governor's throat and his severed head flipped up into the air like a manhole cover. The Governor's body collapsed onto the walkway and a moment later his severed head landed in front of it. Michonne twirled the katana in her hand and brought the sharp blade down onto the Governor's left temple.

SHUKK!

Michonne closed her eyes and allowed the moment of victory to sink in. She stepped on the Governor's severed head, pulled her blade free, and opened her eyes and saw the severed head wasn't the Governor's: it was a male walker with a grey crew cut and grey stubble on its face. She looked at the body for confirmation, and saw it was wearing an army fatigue jacket.

Michonne covered her face with her left hand and lowered her head. _It wasn't him. It wasn't him again,_ she thought. _What the hell happened to me? If I'm not seeing ghosts I'm seeing hallucinations._

Michonne shook the blood and brain matter off her katana; she bent down, picked up her scabbard, and sheathed her sword. She walked towards the house when she stopped and turned around to look at the severed walker's dead head lying on the walkway. "I may be a loner, and I may be crazy, but I'll never be a monster," she said firmly.

The dead walker's head stared with its lifeless eyes at Michonne, who turned back towards the house, stepped inside, closed the door behind her, and locked it.

 **THE END**


End file.
